8. Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion saying, "A talebearer (lit. 'goer') reveals secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit conceals the matter" (Mishlei 11:13). This verse is difficult, but it should have said 'tale-man.' What is a TALE goer? HE REPLIES: It refers to someone who is not settled in mind and not trustworthy. Whatever he has heard goes within him like a board in the water THAT DOES NOT SINK UNTIL it is expelled outside, MEANING TO SAY HE HAS NO REST UNTIL HE REVEALS WHATEVER HE HEARD TO SOMEONE ELSE. What is the reason? It is because his spirit is not stable, SETTLED. Of him who has a stable spirit, it says "But he that is of a faithful spirit conceals the matter." A faithful spirit MEANS a stable spirit. It all depends on the spirit. It is also written: "Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin" (Kohelet 5:5).
9. The world is preserved only through secrecy and if, in worldly things, secrecy is a prerequisite, it is so much more certain that the mysteries of mysteries of Atik Yomin are not even passed on to the angels above. Rabbi Shimon said: To the heavens, I don't say to listen. To the earth I don't say to hear, since we maintain the worlds. THAT IS TO SAY, MOSES AND ISAIAH MADE THE HEAVENS AND EARTH WITNESSES TO PUNISH THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL IF THEY DO NOT MAINTAIN THE WORLDS, THAT THE HEAVENS WILL NOT GIVE ITS RAIN NOR THE EARTH ITS CROPS. BUT RABBI SHIMON WAS SPEAKING TO THE RIGHTEOUS, WHO MAINTAIN THE WORLD AND HAVE NO NEED FOR WITNESSES. We have learned of the mysteries of mysteries. When Rabbi Shimon began with the secrets of secrets, the place shook and the friends trembled.
10. He revealed in secret and opened the discussion with the verse: "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king..." (Beresheet 36:31). Blessed are you, righteous, to whom were revealed the inner secrets of the Torah, which are not revealed to the most holy beings up high, MEANING THE ANGELS. Who will be attentive to this and who will deserve this, THE VERSE: "AND THESE ARE THE KINGS..." That is evidence about overall faith. May the prayer be accepted that it will not be considered a sin to reveal this. What will the friends say, since this verse is difficult, since it was unnecessary to write this because we could see how many kings Edom had before the children of Yisrael came along, and prior to the children of Yisrael having a king? What is shown to us here? It is a high secret and men are incapable of knowing and understanding and contemplating this, SINCE IT ALLUDES TO THE SUPERNAL WORLDS.
11. We have learned about the most Ancient of ancients, the most hidden of hidden, before he prepared his constructions and the crowns of crowns. THE PREPARATION OF THE VESSELS AND READYING THEM TO RECEIVE THE LIGHTS ARE CALLED CONSTRUCTIONS. THE LIGHTS THEMSELVES ARE CALLED CROWNS, DERIVED FROM THE VERSE: "THE CROWN WITH WHICH HIS MOTHER CROWNED HIM" (SHIR HASHIRIM 3:11). There did not yet exist a beginning nor an end, WHICH ARE UPPER CHOCHMAH, THE BEGINNING OF REVELATION, AND LOWER CHOCHMAH, THE END OF REVELATION. He was carving and estimating the limits of it, MEANING OF REVEALING THE BEGINNING AND THE END. He laid out a boundary and in it he marked and measured kings.
12. His constructions were not maintained. This is what is written: "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Yisrael," MEANING BEFORE the first king that reigned over the first children of Yisrael. All that were recorded were called by their names but did not survive so eventually he abandoned them and hid them; he was elevated by that boundary and established with His own Corrections (formations).
13. We have learned that when his wish came to pass, THE WISH OF THE EMANATOR, to create the Torah, she was hidden for 2,000 years and he produced her, MEANING CREATED HER. She immediately said to him: Whoever wishes to restore and accomplish, let him first tend to his own constructions.
14. We have learned from Tz'niuta Desifra (the hidden book) about the most ancient among the ancient, the most concealed of concealed, the most hidden of the hidden, who in his Corrections (formations) was corrected and came, like the oldest among the old, most ancient of the ancients, the most hidden of the hidden, who in his constructions is known yet unknown. He is dressed in white and has a radiant WHITE countenance. HE resides on the throne of fiery sparks, in order to subdue them.
15. Throughout 400,000 worlds, the whiteness of the skull in the head, ARICH ANPIN, spreads. The illuminating light of this whiteness is the legacy of the righteous in the World to Come, consisting of four hundred worlds. This is what is written: "four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant" (Beresheet 23:16).
16. In the skull, WHICH IS KETER OF ARICH ANPIN, reside 13,000 x 10,000 (130 million) worlds that move on feet and are supported by them. From this skull, dew drops flow DAILY to the exterior one, ZEIR ANPIN, and fill the head every single day, as it is written: "For my head is filled with dew" (Shir Hashirim 5:2).
17. From that dew, which is outside, and which ZEIR ANPIN shakes off from his head, the dead wake up TO LIFE in the World to Come, as it is written: "For your dew is as the dew on herbs (also: 'of lights')" (Yeshayah 26:19). THIS IS BECAUSE THIS DEW IS the illumination of the white light of Atika, MEANING THE WHITENESS OF THE SKULL THAT IS NAMED ATIKA, and from that dew the supreme holy beings are sustained. That is the manna that is ground for the righteous in the World to Come. That dew flows to the field of holy apple trees, THE MALCHUT, as it says, "And when the layer of dew was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a fine flaky substance" (Shemot 16:14). The appearance of that dew is white like the crystal stones that appear to contain all the colors within them, as it is written: "And its color was like the color of crystal" (Bemidbar 11:7).